REGENESIS
HARRISON PIERCE
Copyright © 2012 by Harrison Pierce.
Regenesis first published: 31 Oct 2012.
All rights reserved.
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Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version.
Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown.
Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-1-480-18618-7
ISBN 1-480-18618-X
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Published by Writing with Angst publications.
For my father, who introduced me to the world of capes and super heroes at a young age with Batman: The Animated Series, and for my mother, who allowed her four year old son to indulge in this nightly observance.
For my high school English teacher Joe Baillargeon, who convinced me that I could make something out of my high school career beyond merely graduating. Without his enlightening reminder that high school is the perfect opportunity to begin a career in writing, I might never have started this project. (And I’d like to note that I probably wrote half of my first novel in that classroom and that school. Sorry if I wasn’t the most attentive student then, but I was wrapped up in my own little world.)
And finally, for my beloved and beautiful wife Kendra, who not only saved me from the grief and melancholy this novel brought me, but who loves me through all of my imperfections.
A quick note to Kindle readers:
I’ve done my best to format Regenesis to retain the same form and spacing as the printed versions, but I do believe there may be some discrepancies in regard to some of the subheading in the chapters. So I apologize in advance for any oddities that may be found.
Regenesis
Harrison Pierce
1 This know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away.
~ 2 Timothy 3: 1-5
Part I
Impact
Chapter 1
August 10th, 2029
1:36 PM
Seattle, Washington
“Mankind is capable of anything,” Victor Jacobs told a small audience of fifty. “It’s only because we’re willing to go beyond our immediate threshold that we can bend and even break the very bonds of what we know as limitation and accomplish anything we set out to do with the complete intent of finishing our goals.”
Victor stood next to a table with a few dozen copies of his book, Origins, all stacked and ready to be bought, signed, or packed up and taken home. He knew they all weren’t going to leave, considering most of the people in the room already owned a copy of it.
A half an hour earlier he’d nearly vomited from the pressure, yet as he stood before them he couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. Victor knew he wasn’t giving a full lecture or anything of the sort, he was just rambling on about theories and ideas he’d written about. It was casual, yet he’d dressed in a black polo shirt, with well ironed tan khakis and a silk tie. The closest person who came dressed up sat in the back row in a trench coat, navy shirt, and what Victor assumed was a keen interest in what he had to say, as the man in the coat took notes.
He continued, “I wrote this book a year after I graduated college. I’d spent that year travelling abroad, gathering photos, stories, and gaining what I feel is a better grasp on our world as a whole.” Victor took a breath, “I wanted to see the world with my own eyes and not through the eyes of a reporter. I was tired of hearing how things were; I wanted to see it.” He wiped the corners of his lips off and tried to tie his thoughts together before he continued, “I saw a few different faces of the world, some in poverty, some which were prosperous, and eventually I came to the conclusion that we have these vast differences in the world because we hold to different ideals of what it means to survive and to live. We here in the United States live well, which is often taken for granted, though there are areas of the world in such dire straits which we overlook simply because our level of comfort could be threatened in aiding them.
“And let me simply add that I am in no way condemning our society, or anyone for the problems we often ignore. The problem lies within the way we perceive this world.” Victor cleared his throat and felt his pulse heighten as he began the portion of his speech he knew might try his audience’s patience. “Within Origins is a chronicle of what I learned while I traveled for a year and what its culmination rendered was a singular ideology I earnestly hope catches on: this world needs to stop thinking in terms of I and me, and need to act in terms of we.
“Let me explain what I mean in saying ‘us, I, and we.’ We all segregate ourselves into groups, communities, nations, et cetera, and I argue that we all, as a world, need to act as one unified people to remove poverty, hunger, famine, disease, illiteracy, and so many other plagues. I argue that should our people manage to act as one unit and discard all of the strife and opposition we hold toward one another, that this world would find peace and prosperity as a whole.”
An Asian man in the third row smirked and interrupted the young author, “Do you honestly believe we can be that civil?”
Victor frowned and asked what he meant.
“The human race is far too flawed to garner the effect you dream of.”
“How so?”
The man listed off on his fingers, “We’re bitter, cynical, narcissistic, envious, competitive,” at this point he stopped counting and continued to rattle off without so much as a break for taking breath, “Selfish, greedy, lethargic, and dozens of other adjectives I need not say.” He set his hands on his lap and repeated that peace through reconciliation was an impossible feat.
“Do you really believe society is incapable of overcoming those weaknesses?”
The man nodded and told Victor that change did not exist, “Or at the very least, it doesn’t exist in the fashion you believe it does. Take smokers for instance,” the man took a brief glance at a woman who sat only a few seats away from him before he continued, “Some individuals commit quite often to quit the act of smoking, yet continually return to the habit.”
“As you said though, it’s a habit, so I’d say we need to leave room for forgiveness and understanding–”
“I’m well aware of therapy and rehab,” the man interjected, “But you’re missing the point: what I’m trying to relate is the sad truth that there isn’t such a thing as rehabilitation for the qualms held between the Israeli and Palestinian people or for the vastly different political views of nearly every single being on this earth. There is no way for everyone to peaceably agree and act harmoniously.”
“Then do you believe there’s no reason to try to make a differ
ence?” Victor asked him.
The man smiled wider and said he believed in no such thing. “I believe this world is in desperate need of change, yet I doubt we are capable of that change on our own.”
Victor glanced away from the man and at a copy of his book one member of the audience held in their hands. He grinned and asked whether the Asian fellow thought of a specific part of Victor’s ideal. “I gather you’ve read my book?”
“I have.”
“Then are you saying you agree with what I said about potential toward the end?”
The man shook his head and stated he felt Victor was close and offered an addition, “Not everyone is strong enough to overcome their trials and tribulation on their own–”
“Nor should they be made to.”
The Asian man disregarded his comment and pursued his meaning, “I do believe prosperity exists, even for our world, though I believe we are never going to achieve it without aid.”
“Aid from whom?”
“That’s the question I believe we need to answer.”
-- -- --
His reading came to a close without any further interruption. Some of the patrons had their own questions, which he was more than happy to answer. Eventually the numbers dwindled and the man who interjected during Victor’s presentation approached him with a copy of Victor’s book.
The man began by apologizing, “I guess that would have been better suited as a private subject, wouldn’t it?”
Victor said he didn’t mind and signed the book. “You seem to know what you’re talking about though, are you writing a book yourself?”
The man chuckled, “No, nothing like that.” He changed the subject, “Do you have time to answer one other question for me?”
Victor smiled, “Sure, what would that be?”
“Do you believe someone can achieve something that is completely out of their realm of possibility?” Perplexed, Victor asked him to elaborate. “Let’s say that Adam must kill a tiger, but Adam has no weapon and is not physically strong. Can he still achieve?”
Victor paused for a moment. He contemplated what he believed to be the best answer, and asked, “Is there no way for Adam to flee from the tiger? Or to move around the tiger?”
The Asian man shook his head, “No. Flight would result in Adam’s death, as the tiger would overcome him and destroy him. And there is no way around this tiger, as both Adam and the animal are within each other’s threshold as we speak.”
Victor let out a breath, “Then I think he could only succeed if you removed Adam’s limitation by giving him a weapon, or some sort of ally.” The Asian man had quickly taken out a small notepad and wrote as fast as he could, the man only glanced up from his writing once, his eyes flashed as he did so. “Without reducing his limitation I don’t think he would be able to achieve his task. However there are always exceptions.”
The man stopped, “What exceptions?”
“Sometimes there are events that occur randomly that allow individuals who normally wouldn’t achieve to do so, but these events shouldn’t be counted on, as they are unpredictable.”
“Luck.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe that luck can be the deciding factor in many of the world’s outcomes?” asked the man.
“Whether you believe its luck, or a higher power, something is there and can immediately change the tide. But going back to your original question, yes, if Adam was given means to accomplish the goal, he would be able to, so long as there were no hidden elements or the luck factor against him.”
After a moment, the man finished writing and placed the notepad and pen into the pocket of his coat, “A goal cannot be accomplished without the means to do so…We’ll see then.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh I would love to stay and talk with you further; however I am pressed for time, and as you have answered my questions and signed my book, I must be going. I have to catch a flight to Europe.”
As the man left Victor called out, “What’s in Europe?”
He replied as he left the room, “Questions; hopefully answers.”
The Asian man puzzled him, but he ignored it and finished speaking with his fans. As he gathered his notes, a man in his forties approached him, “You gave quite a speech, Victor.”
“Yes, although half of them still don’t understand what I’ve told them,” Victor returned. He turned to find his friend, Tony Winchester, who wore his usual business attire that consisted of a dress suit, tie, and one of his many watches. Tony was always clean-shaven, even on weekends and vacations. He wore glasses that did not detract from his strong countenance and a silver watch on his left wrist.
Tony Winchester was the CEO, founder, and owner of Winchester Enterprises, which was a company that seemed to dabble in every area of commerce so long as it was in some way connected to the technological or automotive realms. The company had its own automotive line, they developed software for home computers, and had their own videogame franchises, with some of their games being widely celebrated. And that was only a small portion of what Victor knew.
Victor talked briefly with his agent, the representatives of the bookstore, and shortly thereafter left with Tony. The two walked out into a rainy Seattle afternoon. The streets were in the same shoddy condition Victor had always known them to be, either in a pre, post, or constructive state. It all went back to the sorts of change the Asian man mentioned, perpetual mundane change. The streets of Seattle were always poor, and no matter what reconstruction occurred it was only a matter of a few years before the same patch work would have to take shape again.
“So how’s that brother of yours?” Tony asked.
“Nick’s fine. He just bought a motorcycle, which Paul’s not too thrilled about, mainly because I helped him buy it, and Paul thinks all we should do with our money is pay for food and his…Well it doesn’t matter, but I do worry about him.” Tony asked why. “Nick’s probably out in this rain as we speak. This vehicle is his first means of independence and I imagine he’s going to clutch to it as hard as he can. Paul doesn’t make either of our lives simple, Nick’s especially, and I feel that Nick will naturally run from that contention as long as he can.
Tony nodded and asked, “I heard from my son that Nick took your advanced philosophy class. How’d he do?”
Victor sighed, “Poorly. He thought he chose photography, and wasn’t able to change classes,” his expression changed. “I had to pair him up with the brightest girl in my class; well…the brightest girl in the school is more appropriate. I asked her to tutor him and I paired them up both semesters for the final projects.”
“Did you give her a lot of extra credit?”
He shook his head, “Future valedictorians don’t have any use for extra credit, and ‘It makes one sloppy and lazy’ she told me. Instead she asked me to write her a letter of recommendation to whatever university she wanted,” Victor chuckled, “So she could choose where she wanted to go.”
Tony grinned, “She sounds like a very bright young woman.”
“Yes, but she wasn’t happy about Nick hindering her, and we both knew Nick would only hold her back. ‘Someone who sleeps through all of his classes isn’t worth wasting time on.’ I laughed.”
“You could have been angry with her.”
“It wouldn’t have done any good.” Victor smiled. “Strong opinions, dedication, and intelligence are things you don’t want to mess with. More so when they’re attributes in a young woman.”
“Too true.”
“Well, how’s that son of yours?” Victor asked as he changed pace.
“Drake’s great. He’s really applying himself within the company. I asked him to be at the meeting where we discussed expanding into Japan. I’m thinking of sending him there in September to help with our presentation at the Tokyo Game Show for our newest title.”
“He sounds like he’s doing very well, not that I wouldn’t expect it from him.”
“Three-point-sixes
tend to work hard.”
“True…” Victor trailed off.
They stopped at a cross walk and waited for the traffic to change to allow them to cross. Tony’s work was only a few blocks from where the reading was, so neither of them saw much purpose in the drive, even if it rained.
Tony spoke, his voice lower though, to keep their conversation as private as it could be, “I take it you’ve heard about Mark Ross already?”
“I’d heard he was killed,” Victor said, “But is there something else I don’t know?”
Tony nodded, “It was at his home, his wife attacked him, slashed out his eyes and slit his throat.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yes. One of the neighbors saw it happen as he tried to break in to save him.” Tony glanced at the crossing sign, “It didn’t help obviously.”
“So I take it we’re going to have to step up our workload?”
“Yes, but that wasn’t the end of it.”
Victor looked at him, “What do you mean?”
“Mark Ross’s wife was in Detroit when he was killed,” Tony told him, “She was visiting her sister when her husband was killed.”
Victor frowned, “Then who killed him?”
Tony couldn’t answer him. The sign changed and they walked across. “They found some hair from the attacker at the scene of the crime, but they were obviously not a match for his wife.”
“Do they know who killed him?”
He shook his head, “No, not at all.”
“The hair didn’t match anyone else?”
“Not yet.”
Victor sighed. “How far back do you think this will set the project?”
“It shouldn’t be too bad. We’ll obviously need to find another chemist though,” Tony stated. “If we could get a hold of David that would be our best option–”
Impact (Book 1): Regenesis Page 1